ADDENDUM (March 2014): From the charts presented, this article appeared in the Friends of Astrology monthly Bulletin in early 2003. And from the last paragraph, I projected that March of 2006 would identify the Pisces Ascendant chart as correct. IT IS!!

Between February and April of 2006 the Friends of Astrology lost their Education Director NORMAN ARENS, as well as past president GLADYS HALL! Until that time I was regularly seeing that monthly Bulletins were mailed to all FOA members. But with losing both my husband and my mother within weeks, it was no longer possible for me to keep up with everything. And while I (as president) attempted to keep the Bulletins in regular monthly printings, I was unable to find anyone with sufficient knowledge and expertise to replace me. Thus the ‘gold-cover’ Bulletins which had been a regular publication of FOA ceased, and have now been replaced with the wonderful email forecast provided by VICTORIA MARTIN.This forecast was begun back in the early decades of FOA – I’m not sure exactly when, but even back in the 1960s and 1970s this forecast – the regular Lunation article – was a monthly staple for members of FOA. This was originally written by our founding member LOUISE MENCH, who for decades also wrote the monthly column Your Love, Money and Health for the (now Dell) Horoscope magazine. When Louise’s eyesight failed in the 1980s, she passed the honor to me, and I have now passed it on to Victoria…And as for the FOA rectified chart, my thought would be to ‘nudge’ the time by 2 minutes to 7:07 pm. In looking at the transits for 2006, at the death of NORMAN ARENS transit Mercury was at 13 Pisces, and at the death of GLADYS HALL transit Uranus was at 13 Pisces. This would lead me to think the actual FOA Ascendant is 13 Pisces rather than the 12 Pisces originally proposed. The 13 Pisces Ascendant would be within 1 degree of the 14 Virgo FOA natal Sun, and the natal Sun would represent the leader of the organization. And clearly – as the FOA leader – I was under considerable stress in March 2006!! CHRISTINE ARENS

The Friends of Astrology Inc. Chart Rectification

by CHRISTINE ARENS, PTMAFA, NCGR-IIIArchive Article 2003

For the last 30 years I have been an active member of the Friends
of Astrology, and have seen the organization change as the years
have passed. In addition, for most of the period I have been an
active member of the Board of Directors, and for many years worked
closely with our previous president who was also a member of the
Board of Directors of the American Federation of Astrologers.
Thus I have seen first hand the changes in the organization, plus
I have been honored to know some of our founding members.
The Friends of Astrology held its first lecture on September
7, 1938, which began a few minutes past 7:00 p.m. In the limited
documentation which has been handed down, our records specifically
stated a time of 7:05 p.m. CST. This notation of CST was the basis
for the chart which we have used for the past 20 years, which
gives the organization an Aries Ascendant with Saturn conjunction
this Ascendant. While I was never completely comfortable with
this chart, it followed the information we had.
In May of this year member GREG CALHOUN called to question the
chart, since in 1938 Chicago was observing Daylight Saving Time.
In my personal conversations with Louise Mench -- some 25 years
ago -- she clearly told me that the lecture began just after 7:00
p.m....the clock time for our first formal meeting. If this was
the clock time, then it must have been Daylight Saving Time.
Over the summer the Friends of Astrology Board of Directors
considered this difference, and felt the Aries Ascendant chart
did not properly reflect the organization. I spoke with our members
GRACE MORRIS of the South Suburban Chapter of NCGR, and asked
her to look at the charts as part of one of their programs. Our
member JAMIE MALAG was present, and tells me that they, too, felt
the Aries Ascen¬dant chart was incorrect.
In light of these discussions, this issue of the Bulletin presents
the rectified birth chart for Friends of Astrology, which gives
a very different Pisces Ascendant. The rectified chart also moves
the Sun-Neptune conjunction from the sixth house to an angular
-- and much stronger -- placement in the seventh house. The Pisces
Ascendant reflects the spiritual beliefs and the flexibility the
organization has shown to adapt over the course of more than half
a century. Neptune, as the ruler of the Ascendant, conjunction
the Sun show leadership which has kept the organization intact
while undergoing many changes. It is also interesting to note
that for most of our existence the President has been closely
assisted by others who share the same ideals of advancing Astrology.
Our first president, KEYE LLOYD, was well known in the astrological
community; he and his wife MARY ADAMS were the motivating force
which initiated the organization in 1938. They followed through
to see that we were properly and legally incorporated on September
6, 1940. In using the Pisces chart, at the time of our incorporation
the progressed Ascendant was at 15 Pisces while the progressed
Moon was at 18 Pisces in the first house. The progressed Ascendant
and progressed Moon form powerful oppositions with both the natal
and progressed Sun and Neptune in Virgo -- and all of these placements
are sextile-trine the Friends'' natal Uranus in Taurus. In the
Aries chart the progressed Moon is buried in the sign of Pisces,
and intercepted in the twelfth house; this would not reflect the
public acceptance or a new corporate image.
In the early 1940's KEYE LLOYD went on to become one of the
early presidents of the American Federation of Astrologers, leaving
Friends in the hands of MARY ADAMS and her sis¬ter HELEN ADAMS.
(Our records also show a board member named LIN ADAMS living at
the same address!) While my knowledge of the organization during
the first few decades is limited, when I first joined Friends
in 1973 the organization was being run by President EDNA CLARK
and her sister MAE KARA. Both Edna and Mae died within a short
time of each other, and the operation of the organization moved
in to the hands of GLADYS HALL and myself. In 1993 there was a
major upheaval which split the organization, with the leadership
falling to me; since 1994 I have been assisted by dedicated and
helpful board members. While Friends truly operates by many hands
working together, the actual operation has been primarily in the
hands of a very few individuals. (Perhaps this is one reason why
we have been able to keep functioning for 65 years!) As you can
see, the pattern is of a "dual" leadership, which also
fits the Pisces Ascendant chart.
With the elections in 1975 GLADYS HALL became Treasurer, and
I became an elected board member. With the death of MAE KARA,
I assumed the position of Executive Secretary. At the time of
EDNA CLARK's death the Vice President assumed she would take on
the position of President. However, in a "stormy" meeting
of the board of directors, Gladys took over the position, and
the Vice President remained in the position of Vice President.
In 1975 we had transit Jupiter in Aries opposition transit Pluto
in Libra, closely tied to Friends' natal Saturn -- in the first
house of both the Aries and Pisces charts. In the Aries chart
this opposition occurs on the horizon, doubly emphasizing the
issues of control. However, the issue of the treasury, which was
the determining factor, does not clearly appear. Transit Uranus
was conjunction Friends' natal Venus, in the seventh house of
the Aries Ascendant chart.
When we look at the Pisces Ascendant chart, we still have the
tran¬sit Jupiter-Pluto opposition close to the Friends natal
Saturn. However, the progressed Ascendant is at 13 Taurus, activating
the Friends' natal Uranus in the second house. In addition transiting
Mars in Pisces (conjunction the Ascendant) shows the antagonism
that existed at the time. Also, with the Pisces chart the natal
Venus is placed in the eighth house, and Uranus transiting here
shows the volatility of the control of the organization's finances.
In 1979 Friends was approved as a non-profit tax-exempt corporation
under the IRS guidelines, which is also shown by the progressed
Ascendant exactly conjunction the natal Uranus in the second house
at that time.
The next major change took place on February 26, 1993, when
the board of directors removed Gladys Hall from the position of
president.

Pisces Rising Chart

Aries Rising Chart

The progressed Moon at 21 Aquarius had returned to its natal position, and transit Saturn was conjunction both the natal and progressed Moons, as well as both the natal and progressed Jupiters. Thus both charts show much of the same difficulties. However, in the Pisces chart the progressed Ascendant is now at 6 Gemini, in a close opposition to the progressed Venus at 4 Sagittarius. With both the natal Jupiter and 9th house activated, the result was a federal lawsuit placed against the organization, but since these were progressed-to-progressed aspects, the suit was eventually withdrawn. Note also that transit Pluto was square to this transit Saturn; in the Pisces chart transit Saturn is "behind the scenes" in the 12th house. These Pluto control issues and Saturn "restrictions" would have been visible in the 11th house of the Aries chart. In addition the progressed Sun at 8 Scorpio was in an approaching trine to the Pisces Ascendant, so despite these problems the image and activities of Friends continued as they always had. In the intervening years we have been able to straighten out our administrative problems, and the organization has grown slowly -- but steadily -- over the last decade. With transit Uranus conjunction our natal Moon and Jupiter we have launched an internet website. We invested in professional recording equipment, and now have to ability to tape lectures so the knowledge can be saved and passed on to future members. In the last few years we have added a special summer pro¬gram, inviting world-class astrologers to share their learning in special one-day seminars. In some instances we have also been able to offer personal face-to-face consultations with these experts. This year we have transit Jupiter in Virgo, and transit Mars crossing the Pisces Ascendant, which no doubt initiated the energy to review who we are and which chart to use. And with transit Uranus in Pisces also just beginning to activate this Ascendant, we are likely to undergo yet more major changes in the near future! As an additional factor, consider our Sagittarius Midheaven. The ruling planet Jupiter is conjunction the Moon in the sociable sign of Aquarius. Friends has always considered itself a "friendly" group who happily share our love of Astrology. Our "after-lecture" get togethers allow us to exchange our viewpoints in an informal and comfortable environment. Add to this the planet Saturn -- while not formally placed in the second house -- which is tied to the sign on the cusp of the second. Over the years we have managed to steadily pay our obligations, but at times this has not been easy. And with Uranus in the second (although "tied" to the third house), we have from time to time received donations which have helped us through. With an Aries Ascendant, the Friends of Astrology would be far more "activist" oriented, while in practice we tend to be more interested in the values and insight Astrology represents. With Neptune (ruler of the Pisces Ascendant) conjunction the Sun, the ideals of the organization follow the vision of the person acting as president. The seventh house Sun of the Pisces chart more closely reflects the significance our presidents have had. In addition to KEYE LLOYD, past president of the American Federation of Astrologers, past presidents JULIE BAUM, EDNA CLARK and GLADYS HALL have all served on the AFA board of directors. As the present president of Friends, I have been honored with the AFA's award for the advancement of astrology. The "proof" of this Pisces Ascendant chart will come at the end of March 2006 -- when transit Uranus reaches the exact placement of our Pisces Ascendant. Until then we will have to wait to see what happens!